Shadowy Nights
' 'Shadowy Nights is a story written by Tomix2010. It revolves mainly around Spydra and his adventures around the world. Prologue There were over four hundred steps leading up the mountain path. They led through the cracks and crevices of mountain rock, high up into the frigid wind and blizzard storms. Right at the top, nestled inside a crag, was a mysterious shrine. Not many people came up here-the gale-force wind made them turn back before they had reached step one hundred. A few beings had come up here, but they had never come back again. One did. Once he had been a highly respected Makuta, both in the fortress of Destral and on his assigned island of Spinia. Now, very few people recognised him. After his fall he had been erased from every carving and text in the archive and had been twisted and mutated beyond recognition. His name was Vorzex and he had started living in a nearby village a few months ago, as he had nowhere else to go. He had come up to the mountain shrine every day since he had lived here. Many people in the village knew who he was and they knew the problems he had faced in life, so nobody questioned him. As he reached the top step, he opened the shrine door and went in. Vorzex liked this place because it was perfect for meditation and alone time. He was nearly always the only one here-nobody else had ever come up. Vorzex briefly wondered who had actually bothered to come up here in sub-zero conditions and build something that no-one would ever visit, then he set to work. He unlimbered a long staff with a huge claw on the end, and lowered it slowly into the pool of water in the middle of the room. Today he had come for a reason. A bright light shone from the water, and Vorzex lifted a small crystal stone from the water. Someone had left this here specifically for him to collect. He wasn't entirely sure what he had to do with it, but he had been told it was important. He carefully placed the stone in his pocket, then left the shrine through the back door. From here the path continued another hundred steps to the top of the mountain. After some more climbing, Vorzex reached the peak. He looked around. From here he had an amazing view, but he didn't have time to admire it. He had a job to do. He placed the stone on a small pedestal on his left. There was a quiet rumble, a flash of green light, and then Vorzex was gone. The mountain was quiet once more. Chapter One Three hundred miles away, someone else saw the green flash. He was a very different sort of being, with black and white armour, red eyes, claws, and spines. He looked like little more than a strange beast, but was actually a very intelligent creature. His name was Spydra. Recently he had been trying to put as much distance between himself and civilisation as possible. Everyone seemed to think they were better than him, that he was some kind of stupid Rahi. He was unwelcome in any big cities, so he kept to himself. But now he had seen that green flash, and he knew there was something he had to do. Vorzex and Spydra are both portrayed as twisted, opressed, sad creatures, which may be why they formed a strong friendship. Vorzex was his only friend in the world. If he needed Spydra to do something, he would do it. Spydra heard a small sound, like grass rustling. He hoped that nobody had followed him into the wilds. Spydra spent half his time doing what he had to to, and the other half watching his back to make sure no enemies were following him. There was definitely someone there. Spydra decided to use an old trick someone had once told him-keep moving. Let the enemy think that he's caught you off guard. He had so far shown no signs of being alert. With any luck, whoever the enemy was would think he was being very clever and sneaky, and then Spydra would hit him when he came out. Spydra continued walking, knowing that he was being followed but wanting to catch the enemy off guard. He came to a puddle, and looked down at his reflection in it. Reflected in the puddle, he saw a shape sneak up behind him, raising a weapon. Spydra suddenly whipped around, throwing the assassin back. He was a Rahkshi Lerahk. He ran toward Spydra again, staff raised. Spydra blocked with his own weapon, but the Rahkshi jabbed the staff into his abdomen. Spydra had not been badly hit, but a small amount of poison had gone into his body, weakening him. He still had enough strength, however, to block the next strike and kick the Rahkshi to the floor. The Rahkshi jumped up again and swung his staff at Spydra, who responded by releasing a small shockwave from his staff. The Rahkshi was disarmed, and Spydra stabbed him in the back a few times until he eventually died. Spydra searched the dead Rahkshi and found a note that ordered his assassination, which had been left unsigned for obvious reasons. He also found a few bottles of bula berry juice, which he took, and a few Kanohi masks, which he also decided to take. He put it all into his pack, along with the note. He could examine it later. For now, he left the dead Rahkshi on the ground and walked off in the direction of Vorzex's green flash. Maybe Vorzex needed help with a job. If that was the case, Spydra would help him. Chapter Two Vorzex had run into a complication. He hated complications. He hated it when people expected him to comprehend large, complicated machines. The only machines he had ever needed to work with were the ones where you pulled a lever and a massive fireball capable of destroying a Toa came out of the end. Or the ones where you poured in some ingredients, pulled a lever and a new, destructive Rahi was created. He liked those machines. But this one was just impossible. He had made it to the top of a fort, defeated some Rahkshi, and was now faced with a strange mechanism. There was a large dome in the middle of the room, made of metal and crystal. In front of him there was a control panel with the buttons. He had pushed all of the buttons at least ten times each, and lots of small things had happened. Apparently, the dome was supposed to open when he pressed the right combination of buttons. But nobody had thought to tell him what the combination actually was, thinking he would figure it out on his own. Frustrated, he wrenched a piece of masonry off the wall and flung it at the crystalline dome, hoping it would shatter. Instead, it barely cracked. This mission was hopeless. He was hopeless. If only Spydra had come to help him, or there was some sort of instruction manual that made sense rather than a book of riddles. He hated riddles! He liked it when things made sense, not when they were made for no reason other than to confuse and humiliate him. Angrily, he smashed his fist down on the crystal. His hand shattered. The crystal only chipped a tiny bit. He drew back, furious. Someone really didn't want him to find whatever was inside. Just then, Spydra entered. "What happened, Vorzex? Someone doesn't want you to open the safe?" "How did you know?" "I found the place at the shrine where you went to replace the crystal, and read a note you left. It told me where you'd gone and I followed you. As for the mess you've gotten yourself into, you really don't pay any attention to your surroundings, do you?" Spydra looked up at the ceiling for a moment to examine a carving, then pressed a few buttons quickly. The dome hissed and slid open. Spydra slowly walked down and retrieved a small box from a pedestal underneath. "From the look on your face, they didn't even tell you what you would find here, did they?" he said. "Come on. Let's get back to the shrine and I'll tell you.